The whole point of being a journalist or pundit is to have a strong view, right?

True, the subject is Brexit, which no one seems to really understand. But still, there is an undeniable fresh charm in seeing Mason getting as a close as an Englishman can to a Gallic “bouf” when he shrugs and tells the camera he hasn’t got the foggiest idea what is going to happen next.

Why is this so attractive?

Surely the answer is because it is real and human.

Mason is undoubtedly smart and well-informed enough to have cobbled together a compelling summary if he had wanted. But he is more interested in being honest, and his conclusion – of confusion -- is all the more compelling for that.

It is how everyone feels. Mason deserves the credit for spotting it and for replacing erudite analysis with an honest exasperated puff of pleasingly not-hot air.